VT Halter Marine to Build New Coast Guard Heavy Icebreaker

   By Maria Armental

A shipbuilding unit of Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd. (S63.SG, SGGKY) has been awarded a roughly $746 million contract to build the first heavy icebreaker in more than 40 years for the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Defense Department contract award to Mississippi's VT Halter Marine Inc., which could reach nearly $2 billion if all options are exercised, comes a day after the Coast Guard updated its Arctic strategic outlook noting that "the resurgence of nation-state competition has coincided with dramatic changes in the physical environment of the Arctic, which has elevated the region's prominence as a strategically competitive space."

In its outlook the Coast Guard pointed to Russia and China's heavy investments in the area, saying that Russia has built 14 icebreakers and six bases since 2013, the year the Coast Guard released its Arctic strategy, and that China has conducted six Arctic expeditions.

"The Arctic's role in geostrategic competition is growing, in large part, because it is no longer 'self-secured' by permanent sea ice," the Coast Guard wrote in the outlook.

Currently, the Coast Guard's polar fleet includes a 399-foot heavy icebreaker that was commissioned in 1976 and a 420-foot medium icebreaker that was commissioned in 2000.

The heavy icebreaker, Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, underwent a three-year reactivation and returned to operations in late 2013, according to the Coast Guard's website.

The new icebreaker is expected to be completed by June 2024.

"The Coast Guard's heavy polar icebreakers are a critical part of our nation's ability protect our interests in the polar regions," said U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R., Miss., in a statement. Mr. Wicker is a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and chairman of the Senate committee on commerce, science, and transportation, which has jurisdiction over the Coast Guard.

Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 23, 2019 19:09 ET (23:09 GMT)

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